BJP, Congress bag a Rajya Sabha seat each in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi, March 28 (IANS) The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won one seat each in the Rajya Sabha Friday from Chhattisgarh. A keen contest is on in Madhya Pradesh for three seats to the upper house of parliament. Both states are ruled by the BJP.

Congress treasurer Motilal Vora and BJP’s Shiv Pratap Singh were declared elected. This is Vora’s second consecutive term. The Congress had earlier held both the seats.

In the fray in Madhya Pradesh are Maya Singh, Raghunandan Sharma and Prabhat Jha (all BJP) and Vivek Tankha, an independent candidate with Congress support. Maya Singh is seeking re-election after completing her first term.

Of the three seats, the Congress held two and the BJP one.

The run-up to the polls saw Samajwadi Party legislator Kishore Samrite alleging last week that his signature on Tankha’s nomination papers were taken forcibly and that the nomination should be cancelled.

Samrite had earlier accused the Congress party of offering him a bribe to vote during the Rajya Sabha elections. He has been suspended from the Samajwadi Party.

Elections were held Wednesday to fill up 51 Rajya Sabha vacancies spread over 15 states.